Himmler's daughter funding Nazis to escape justice

Heinrich Himmler's daughter devotes her life to a charity which helps some of the Third Reich's most evil criminals to escape justice.

65 years after World War II ended, Gudrun Himmler, who is now aged 81 and is a mother of two, is part of an organisation called Stille Hilfe - or Silent Aid.

Her father helped to organise the murder of six million Jews. Himmler would often arrange for his young daughter to come visit him wherever he was, and she would often go to concentration camps with him. On a visit to Dachau, Gudrun strolled around with her adoring father and his servants while yards away prisoners were beaten, starved, killed and burned in the camp crematorium.

Today, she lives a secretive life, always tries keeps herself away from the gaze of her neighbours as she runs the organisation open to a select few of Nazi sympathisers.

Ten years ago ago in Ulrichsberg, northern Austria she made a rare appearance at a neo-Nazi rally, representing Stille Hilfe. Young hate-mongers there were awed to be among their idols - Waffen SS veterans as well as a handful of camp guards and the "desk murderers" who pushed the pens that moved the trains that fed the gas chambers.

Andrea Ropke, an authority on neo-Nazism who attended the rally, said: "But everyone was terrified of Gudrun. All these high-ranking former officers lined up and she asked, 'Where did you serve?' showing off her vast knowledge of military logistics."

Gudrun does not deny her involvement with Stille Hilfe, describing herself in a rare interview as simply one of the few members in a dying organisation. "It's true I help where I can but I refuse to discuss my work."

This week it was revealed Stille Hilfe is funding the defence of a Dutch Nazi living in Germany. Klaas Faber, 88, is wanted by Holland to resume a life term for murdering Jews and resistance fighters in the war.

It also bankrolled the legal fight of Samuel Kunz, who died a week ago aged 89 before answering for his crimes as a guard at Belzec death camp in Poland. Prosecutors say he was involved in murdering 433,000 people.

The organisation is said to have around 25 active members - but also several hundred secret sympathisers, who fund and support its projects.

However, it is to Germany's discredit that it seems to be turning a blind eye to the group's nefarious activities.

The opposition Social Democratic party has also called for an investigation into its charitable status - but so far Berlin has refused to act against it.